MINISTER FOR Justice Dermot Ahern is to cut proposed fines for blasphemy from €100,000 to €25,000, under changes to be made to the Defamation Act next week.
Mr Ahern said the legislation, which passed its committee stage in the Dáil yesterday, has been drafted to “make it virtually impossible to get a successful prosecution [for blasphemy] out of it”.
A blasphemy prosecution has not been won for a century, while powers already in force under the 1961 Defamation Act have never been used.
The Government is currently modernising Ireland’s defamation laws, which passed its committee stage in the Dáil last evening.
Under Article 40 of the Constitution, “the publication or utterance of blasphemous, seditious, or indecent matter” is a criminal offence.
Mr Ahern insists blasphemy must remain a crime, unless the reference to it in the Constitution is removed. “It is already there in the 1961 Act, and it is in the Constitution and we have to comply with the Constitution. You are in derogation of your duty if you ignore the Constitution,” he told Opposition TDs.
The inclusion of the blasphemy clause was accepted by Government TDs and passed by nine votes to six during yesterday’s committee stage debate.
The offence, published as amendment to the original Defamation Act, “is a little bit more modern” than the one contained in the 1961 Act “which could potentially put people in prison”, he said.
The change in the €100,000 fine to just €25,000 will be made during next week’s report stage debate.
Mr Ahern, who opposes a constitutional amendment, said he could proceed with his plans; abandon the legislation, or else hold a referendum.
Fine Gael TDs, Charlie Flanagan, Denis Naughten and Jim O’Keeffe, and Labour’s Pat Rabbitte criticised the Minister, suggesting he abandon the blasphemy clause, or that he hold a referendum to remove the reference to it in the Constitution.
Mr Naughten said the legislation will be impossible to enforce because it is entirely subjective, and it could threaten Ireland’s future economic interests.
Islamic countries could retaliate if the DPP did not prosecute some future alleged insult against Islam, he warned.
Describing the Church of Scientology as “a dangerous, crack-pot cult”, Mr O’Keeffe said he could be prosecuted in future if he described it as such outside of Dáil privilege.
Mr Naughten said a former Jehovah’s Witness who denounced that religion’s deeply-held belief about blood could be prosecuted if the amendments were accepted.
The fact that the legislation will “be unworkable” is “the classic Irish solution to an Irish solution,” said Mr Flanagan.